Charges made against Do Kwon by South Korea were seen as “politically motivated”. He declined to acknowledge that he departed Singapore or provide his current location in an interview with the Unchained podcast.
Do Kwon, the creator of Terra has referred to the accusations brought against him by South Korean prosecutors as politically driven and reaffirmed that he is not hiding.
On Tuesday, he said on the cryptocurrency podcast Unchained, hosted by Laura Shin:
“We are a little bit disappointed in the way prosecutors are attempting to create new regulation through criminal court proceedings, whereas that should be within the job description of the legislature, or at the very least, the financial regulators.”
Kwon Claimed That He Has Not Seen a Copy of the Arrest warrant
Authorities in his native South Korea are looking for Kwon for allegedly breaking the country’s Capital Markets Act.
The accusations are related to the demise of the Terra ecosystem and Terraform Labs’ algorithmic stablecoin. The collapse of the entire ecosystem and the loss of $40 billion in value occurred in May when the TerraUSD stablecoin lost its peg to the U.S. dollar.
Kwon asserted that he had not seen a copy of the arrest warrant and that the only sources through which he had learned about the allegations were the media. He is unsure of what other allegations, if any, he is up against besides allegedly breaking the Capital Markets Act.
According to Kwon, “We don’t think that any of the charges pertaining to the Capital Markets Act are applicable because the government’s stance has been that cryptocurrencies shouldn’t be governed by the Capital Markets Act because they’re not securities.”
He added, “We don’t believe these are legitimate charges and are politically motivated.”
Kwon Explained Why Hasn’t Revealed His Location
When Kwon was questioned about his whereabouts, he said:
“I could answer that, but the problem is that I don’t want a bunch of guesswork in terms of which country and city I have been living in.”
He added, “The easier I make it for people to figure out my location, the harder it is for me to continue regular life.”
Kwon has consistently asserted in interviews that he is not on the run and is prepared to work with law enforcement, even though he is a wanted man. Despite this, it is unknown where he is because, according to sources from Singaporean police, he left the city-state in September.
“The main reason I don’t want to talk about my location to the media is that, when the crash happened in May, there were lots of situations where personal security was threatened,” he told Shin, noting that “people broke into my apartment building.”
He said this happened at his home in Singapore and South Korea. “Every time the location where I live becomes known, it becomes almost impossible for me to live there,” he explained.
Kwon Disputed Claims Surrounding Missing Money
Kwon refuted reports that in September, the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), a non-profit that supports the Terra environment, sent $65 million in bitcoin to the cryptocurrency exchanges KuCoin and OKX.
He claimed that just because money was sent into an exchange didn’t necessarily indicate it was sold. The funds were requested to be frozen by South Korean officials, but other transactions are also being questioned.
According to Kwon, “There have been allegations that we moved LFG funds into a Gemini custody wallet, and then it’s sitting there or something like that. All we did was to confirm trade with a market maker and transfer the bitcoin to an address at the market maker’s instruction.”
A Clearer Report to be Released Soon
He continued by saying that he had hired an on-chain research business and had given it access to all of LFG’s trading data. It will release a report that “is going to provide a lot more clarity.”
“There isn’t any embezzlement or theft of the funds or anything to that effect that seems to be cycling through the media,” he said.
Shin also brought up tweets from Kwon and the LFG from May, which guaranteed a refund of money for Terra holders before the collapse, prioritising the smallest holders first. Kwon compared the procedure to a “goodwill effort” rather than a “refund,” but he admitted he is unsure how long it would take.
He added, “Right now, LFG is not at a state where it can make clear disposal of its assets. In addition, there is pending civil litigation against LFG.”
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